Peter Hetherington: What's the point of being a local councillor with so little power, so few financial incentives, and such an ageing bunch of second-rate politicians to work alongside? That, at any rate, is the perception. The reality is sometimes different, writes Peter Hetherington.

Michele Hanson: Over the past couple of weeks our charming local Labour councillors have been heroically canvassing, trudging round the streets until the final hours, trying to dredge up more votes. Naturally I voted for them, because I long to get rid of the Liberal Democrats.

Trevor Phillips: Even before the first results of Thursday's local elections were declared, a tremor of anxiety was passing through the political class. One Labour MP, Jon Cruddas, predicted that the BNP would take all 13 seats it contested in Barking and Dagenham. As it turned out, he was wrong - but not by much.

Jonathan Freedland: The local election results were not bad enough to force his immediate ejection, as some had feared (and perhaps others had hoped). But the last 24 hours have brought two signs that the light over No 10 is fading.

Michael White: An immediate reshuffle in the wake of worse-than-expected local election results may strike Tony Blair as a demonstration of his grip on power. In the present climate it is more likely to be interpreted as mere panic, designed to deflect bad headlines.

Michael White: When Labour last suffered the kind of political meltdown in London which some predict for today's elections in the capital's 32 boroughs it was May 9 1968 and Britain was a very different country, poorer and more divided by class and opportunity.

Westminster commentators say the local elections are going to be a disaster for Labour, but - despite some sniggering about John Prescott - there are no signs of a meltdown in Burnley, says Kitty Ussher